Ancient
Landscapes; New Lines
Pound Arts
Pound Pill,
Corsham, Wiltshire. SN13 9HX
Notes on my work
For anyone that has
followed the progress of my sculptural work, there are developments afoot.
The Landscape NH series
of modular sculptures are based on familiar landscapes around Puthall Farm,
towards Axford, Ramsbury and Mildenhall which I have walked, cycled and ridden
for the last fifteen years. The shapes
and formations of the landscape and field boundaries; marks made by man on the
land, have informed the lines and contours of the works as I have remembered
them from repetitive journeys. Familiar
motifs of woodland peaks catching the sun, holloways and chalk pits are all
represented in these works which are reflections on a journey across a
remembered space.
The Lifeline sculptures
started from a point of recognition of the historical and archeological features
that surround Marlborough, Wiltshire. The nails mark those specific points of a
journey on a to-scale map. This was the beginning
of the journeys and landscapes work and is for me, a significant and important move
towards a new subject and style.
The new work, Lifeline
Part 2A and 2B are drawings in forged steel of a part of the journey to my new
home in the Pewsey Vale. Repetition of a
journey is backed up by sketching and photography enabling me to capture the
essence of the space in which I am physically moving. These pieces are made with the height of the
hills to scale and may be recognizable to some who are familiar with that
landscape.
The making process of
the Lifeline works is integral to the work. Hot-forged lines, worked in three
dimensions with changing sections of steel give the sensation of the movement through
the landscape. The way in which hedges
squeeze us tight and landscape features and immovable boundaries make us move
or make our eye follow a path. The
delicate and spindly nature of the new work is intentional, it reminds me of
the fragility of the world we live in.
The Journey pieces
follow the paths and routes that I take regularly on foot, bike or horseback
and are often circuitous. The process of
forging the route allows me to get the sensation of moving though the landscape. These works are also to scale and made from
remembered motion.
While we have fantastic
mapping and visual technological aids to help us map our progress though the
landscape, I find that it is my physical journey that best informs my work so
rely on my memory of a journey to make these works.
The way in which I work
is following a formula of drawing and measuring, forging then forming. The title numbers are a reference to the
circumference of the work and each one is unique, a rarity it seems in the
sculpture world of editions.
I am looking forward to
finding a client who wants to commission me to make their landscape in either
the forged variation of Lifeline or formed like the larger Landscape
pieces. If you would like to discuss
this option please get in touch with me.
I am fortunate enough to
live and travel across the most stunning landscape so close to my home, I want
to say look at this natural resource all around us – don’t look through little
screens and camera viewers – look, feel and sense the shapes, lines, places,
paths, don’t take it for granted, it is so special.
